Mr. Santaella
Enc 1101
31 August 2017
Society Changes
Robin Henig who wrote “What is it About 20-Somethings?” argues that the twenties are a developmental stage for humans that comes before adulthood. She states that to be an adult, a person must have a degree, be married with children, be financially independent, and have moved out. While in 1960 that may have been the case, in 2017 it is not. The economy is nothing like it was in the 60’s, lifestyles have also changed significantly since then and for a person to move out of their parents house these days is nearly impossible until they have a stable and well paying job. Robin says that “reaching adulthood is happening later than ever” (Henig) which I, personally disagree with. …show more content…
Also, in the 60’s college or higher education cost $475 which adjusted to inflation would be about $3,419. I don’t know about anyone else, but I currently have a $9,000 bill from here at FAU. With the cost of living a solid amount higher than it was in the past, it is a lot more difficult to become financially stable or to live on your own, especially as a college student. To balance school, extracurriculars, and a job is extremely taxing on college students now while in the 60’s, it was expected of them to balance all of these, and it was possible then because school was easier and the institutions for higher education didn’t expect students to focus solely on school. Back in the 60’s a person could also pay their way through college with a minimum wage part time job. Now in 2017, a minimum wage job that pays biweekly is barely enough to feed a person for the two weeks along with rent and other …show more content…
“The median age at first marriage in the early 1970s, when the baby boomers were young, was 21 for women and 23 for men; by 2009 it had climbed to 26 for women and 28 for men, five years in a little more than a generation.” (Henig) People used to get married in their late teens or early twenties. My grandmother, for example got married at 18, my mom at 23. In today’s society, people aren’t getting married until their late twenties, or early thirties. My two eldest brothers are 24 and neither of them are even looking for a serious relationship yet. Instead of focusing on getting married and having children, people are putting their energy towards school and getting a good job. One of the twins is in med school the other in grad school for accounting, they want to finish school and have a stable life before they bring another person seriously into it and I believe that most millennials and people just before think this